Overview
- Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has described the group’s situation as “more than critical” and says prior savings are insufficient to make the company competitive.
- Management is preparing a sharper “Zielbild 2030” that could, as a working estimate, affect roughly 50,000 roles worldwide and has identified Emden, Hannover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm as sites without a clear competitive load for the 2030s.
- The board will brief employees in a series of nine works meetings starting Aug. 25, with sessions in Wolfsburg, Emden and Zwickau and a later supervisory‑board review scheduled for early September.
- Labour leaders reject closures: IG Metall chair Christiane Benner called the board’s targets unrealistic, ruled out plant shutdowns, and announced a nationwide action day for Sept. 21 if plans are not revised.
- Zwickau faces near‑term cuts — headcount fell from about 11,000 to 8,000 and one production line is planned to close in 2027 — while the site is scaling a vehicle dismantling and reconditioning programme aimed at up to 1,000 staff and 15,000 cars a year by 2030.